Column on those asinine schools banning tag
It’s common knowledge by now, I’m pretty sure, that a handful of schools around the country have banned tag, including elementaries in Washington, Wyoming and California.
Excuse me? Tag?
Apparently, kids run around and tag each other and sometimes they fall. And when they fall, sometimes they get hurt. And we can’t have kids getting hurt, so let’s ban the game altogether. That makes sense.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a mom, and I certainly don’t like to see my daughter get hurt. I kiss all her owies and have mini-heart attacks every time I see her lunging at the steps at grandma’s house. But I’m also realistic, and I know I can’t protect her from everything - nor would I want to.
Right now, she has a gash on her chin where she fell on the sidewalk in our apartment complex. She was running her little toddler run, tripped over a pair of troublesome feet, and she tumbled. There was lots of blood in her mouth, and I had one of those aforementioned heart attacks when I saw it happening. So I rushed toward her, hugged her, cleaned it up, kissed it and held a cold washcloth to it for as long as she would let me.
And then I set her down and let her run some more.
Because that’s what we have to do. We can’t not teach our children to walk because they might fall down. And we can’t not let them play tag because they might get hurt.
Is that the kind of world we want our children to live in? It sounds like one of those alternative universes in children’s novels where the kids all come out at 4 p.m., bounce a red ball in unison, and turn around and head back indoors at 4:05.
And I’m not even getting started on the whole childhood obesity issue, which is, by the way, the No. 1 health problem for our nation’s children. So let’s ban a game where they run around and get exercise. Perfect. They won’t fall down, but they’ll develop diabetes or keel over from heart attacks in their teens. That’s better.
Plus, it’s one more step in abandoning the lifestyle that we grew up in. Tag and monkey bars and oversized tires being turned in for Play Station 2 and X Box. It’s just sad.
So I hope my little girl gets a few scratches and scrapes climbing a tree. I hope she gets a few bumps and bruises placing baseball in the back yard with ghost runners on second and third bases. And I hope and pray that none of her injuries are too serious, but if she does sprain or fracture something, I hope all her classmates sign her cast with magic marker.
I’m definitely a protective mom, but I try to let her find the independence she already seeks at 1 year old. I try to remember that part of raising her is giving her the opportunities to run on her own, to play and experience the world.
She needs to make her own mistakes and learn from them. She needs to fall down a million times to learn to walk.
I’ll still be there to kiss it and make it better.
Excuse me? Tag?
Apparently, kids run around and tag each other and sometimes they fall. And when they fall, sometimes they get hurt. And we can’t have kids getting hurt, so let’s ban the game altogether. That makes sense.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a mom, and I certainly don’t like to see my daughter get hurt. I kiss all her owies and have mini-heart attacks every time I see her lunging at the steps at grandma’s house. But I’m also realistic, and I know I can’t protect her from everything - nor would I want to.
Right now, she has a gash on her chin where she fell on the sidewalk in our apartment complex. She was running her little toddler run, tripped over a pair of troublesome feet, and she tumbled. There was lots of blood in her mouth, and I had one of those aforementioned heart attacks when I saw it happening. So I rushed toward her, hugged her, cleaned it up, kissed it and held a cold washcloth to it for as long as she would let me.
And then I set her down and let her run some more.
Because that’s what we have to do. We can’t not teach our children to walk because they might fall down. And we can’t not let them play tag because they might get hurt.
Is that the kind of world we want our children to live in? It sounds like one of those alternative universes in children’s novels where the kids all come out at 4 p.m., bounce a red ball in unison, and turn around and head back indoors at 4:05.
And I’m not even getting started on the whole childhood obesity issue, which is, by the way, the No. 1 health problem for our nation’s children. So let’s ban a game where they run around and get exercise. Perfect. They won’t fall down, but they’ll develop diabetes or keel over from heart attacks in their teens. That’s better.
Plus, it’s one more step in abandoning the lifestyle that we grew up in. Tag and monkey bars and oversized tires being turned in for Play Station 2 and X Box. It’s just sad.
So I hope my little girl gets a few scratches and scrapes climbing a tree. I hope she gets a few bumps and bruises placing baseball in the back yard with ghost runners on second and third bases. And I hope and pray that none of her injuries are too serious, but if she does sprain or fracture something, I hope all her classmates sign her cast with magic marker.
I’m definitely a protective mom, but I try to let her find the independence she already seeks at 1 year old. I try to remember that part of raising her is giving her the opportunities to run on her own, to play and experience the world.
She needs to make her own mistakes and learn from them. She needs to fall down a million times to learn to walk.
I’ll still be there to kiss it and make it better.